INTERNATIONAL GEOSCIENCE PROGRAMME (IGCP)

Annual Report* of IGCP Project No. 499

*The information in this report will also be used for publication in 'Geological Correlation' (please feel free to attach any additional information you may consider relevant to the assessment of your project).

In order to channel the work within IGCP 499 which covers a wide range of disciplines and areas we have established different regional and local working groups which have been very active within the past two years (e.g., see list of publications). Besides the regional and local working groups in different countries a special scientific focus ahs been on different palaeogeographic and facies settings: (1) terrestrial realm (2) transitional/shallow marine realm and (3) outer shelf/open marine realm. Geochemical studies are also important for many fields in the Devonian, especially regarding climate reconstructions. In the last two years some new data have been published and new projects and/or working groups have been established. Regarding palaeogeographic correlation and biofacies some new projects have been started in the last years and the first results have been presented on various meetings (see the long list of contributions which habe been presented at the IGCP meetings).

3. Achievements of the project this year

Numerous aspects of the evolution of Devonian ecosystems from different parts of the world have been published this year. Besides new data on biostratigraphy, palaeobiogeography, sedimentology and palaeoecology in different Devonian settings (see reports of the regional working groups) a number of paleogeochemical studies are on the way and the published results provide new insights in the palaeoclimate of the Devonian period. The German geochemical working group and colleagues have presented four talks at the 22nd Int. Meeting on Organic Geochemistry“, held in September 12-16, 2005, in Seville, Spain.

Under the umbrella of the IGCP 499 a new joint research project entitled “Devonian ecosystems and climate of Turkey” has been accepted. The duration of the project is three years. Field work started after the workshop (see 3.3) and determination of a detailed stratigraphy of Devonian sequences along selected profiles in particular regions (NW-Anatolia, Taurids, SE-Anatolia) will be the first critical target. Definition of litho.-, bio.- and tectonofacies of diverse Devonian deposits and a high-resolution sampling along the profiles in the light of different facies associations is the second main target. The third objective is the compilation of parameters, which are indicative for ecology and climate.This particular project will lead to an increased understanding of evolutionary processes in both, marine and terrestrial ecosystems and environments, and their interactions.

3.1. List of countries involved in the project (please *indicate the countries active this year and make the distinction between:

Algeria

Australia*

Belgium*

Bulgaria*

Canada*

China*

Czech Republic*

France*

Germany*

Iran*

Italy*

Kazkhstan

Lithuania*

Morocco*

Poland*

Portugal

Romania*

Russia*

Spain*

Turkey*

United Kingdom

United States*

Uzbekistan

3.2. General scientific achievements (including societal benefits)

(Meetings are not considered as scientific achievements, they should be listed under heading 3.3.)

The project research made progress fully according to the scheduled work programme (see list of publications for 2004 and 2005, attachment 1) and in the meantime more then ten working groups have been established. Most working groups have send a report for 2005 and below the most relevant scientific achievements of these working groups are summarized:

Australian

Monographing the faunas and stratigraphy of the limestones at Mt Etna, near Rockhampton, is continuing. Principal contributions are: stratigraphy (Henry Shannon & Matthew Ng), corals (Paul Blake), conodonts (Ruth Mawson & John Talent with sampling by Matthew Ng), brachiopods (Matthew Ng), gastropods and stromatoporoids (Alex Cook) and fish micro-remains (Sue Turner). The conodont data (from numerous samples) indicates a mid-Pragian age. This forms part of a wider initiative on the pre-Carboniferous faunas of the Rockhampton hinterland: corals (Paul Blake) and conodonts (Ruth Mawson and John Talent). Conodont-based stratigraphic alignments between the Mt Morgan and Dee Range areas were published early this year (Taube et al. 2005).

Another team enterprise is an investigation of the faunas and age (Pragian) of the minor limestone intervals in the Devonian of the Darling Basin and its eastern flank in western New South Wales. The ages and conodont biofacies of these limestones have implications for the inferred ages of fish faunas from the clastic sequences of the same region and for palaeogeographic interpretations. Though all (except one mid-Pragian unit) are early Pragian and of the same biofacies, the current palaeogeographic synthesis for the region suggests them to have accumulated in various contexts from slope, platform and even on dry land . Writing up the conodont faunas (David Mathieson & Ruth Mawson) and inarticulate brachiopods (James Valentine) has been completed. Associated stromatoporoids (Barry Webby) and silicified brachiopod faunas from the Booth and Manuka Limestone Members of theGundaroo Snadstone are also being described.

The Macquarie group are also collaborating with Chen Xiuqin (Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology) in an attack on the lithostratigraphy, biochronology, chemostratigraphy and biostratigraphy of the Late Devonian Hongguleleng Formation of NW Xinjiang (China). Initial field work for this project was undertaken during August.

Sixteen workers from Australia and New Zealand are involved with primarily taxonomic studies on Devonian fish, mostly from Australia, but including material from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Bolivia, Scotland, Antarctica, western USA and the Gaspé Peninsula. A report on their activities can be accessed on the IGCP 491 home-page as the Annual Report of the Australasian Group of IGCP 491 for 2005. A modicum of their work is having spinoff for marine to no-marine correlations, notably for the diverse faunas from the Craven’s Peak Beds being Eifelian (Burrow & Young 2005) and long-distance correlation in redbed sequences (e.g. Young 2005). Zerina Johanson (MUCEP/Australian Museum) continued work on the mid-Pragian vertebrates of the Fairy Formation of eastern Victoria with John Talent, John Long, Jim Warren and Philippe Janvier.

Baltic Working Group:

The project „Evolution of the ecosystems and climate in Baltic Sedimentary Basin on the transition of Silurian-Devonian times”, has been carried out under the umbrella of IGCP Project 499 (DEVEC) and is financed by the Lithuanian State Science and Studies Foundation in 2005.

The project is aimed at reconstruction of paleogeographic, paleoclimatic, sedimentary and geodynamic processes in the Baltic Sedimentary basin on the transition of two geological periods: Silurian and Devonian. This boundary is of great importance in the region, as it marks the transition from the Early Paleozoic marine regime to the Middle-Late Paleozoic continental conditions resulting in considerable paleographic, paleoclimatic, geodynamic, sedimentary and ecosystem changes. The aforementioned analysis is based on studies of drill cores and paleontological data, focusing on O18 isotope composition of the Devonian fish remains and fwochemistry (REE mainly) in order to reconstruct denudation and depositional conditions. The investigations are combined with lithofacies analysis of drill cores and correlation of the reference wells of the Lithuania. The project results will be correlated with the models of coeval events in adjacent sedimentary basins.

Analytic paleogeochemical (isotopic) studies of the Devonian fish remains of the Baltic Basin

The core and outcrop sampling in Lithuania and Sweden (Gotland), aimed to prepare Silurian - Devonian fish remains for O18 isotopic studies, has been carried out during the spring-summer period of 2005. The laboratory studies of suitable samples would be carried out in the Institute of Geology and Mineralogy of the Erlangen University (Germany), October 23-November 5, 2005 under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Werner Buggish ir Dr. Oliver Lehnart by Ph.D. ivile igaitė (Vilnius University) aimed to reconstruct the paloetemperatures e.g to specify paleo-ecological conditions of the Devonian sedimentary basin.

The core sampling of the reference wells, representing the major lithofacial zones in Lithuania, were carried out June-July, 2005.

Belgium:

K. Narkiewicz (Polish Geological Institute, Warszawa) and P. Bultynck (Natural Sciences Belgium, Brussels) started the study of the conodont Icriodus subterminus Fauna. This fauna will be useful for the correlation between shallow marine facies (mainly platform carbonates) and deeper shelf facies during the late Givetian and the earliest Frasnian.The study is based on material from Belgium, Northern France, North America, Poland and Southern Morocco. Results may be expected by the end of 2006.

Chech Republic:

In this year, collegues from the Chech Republic and co-authors have presented 12 contributions (12 abstracts, 11 oral presentations and one poster) on conferences in Russia, and Czech Republic (see references).

Canada:

Paul Copper and his colleagues continued their work on depositional environments in Devonian and Silurian reefs (see list of publications).

Germany:

German participants of the project are mainly grouped around the teams in Münster (T. Becker and co-workers), Erlangen (M. Joachimski and co-workers) and Frankfurt (Senckenberg group and co-workers) and Juelich (U. Mann and co-workers). The German working groups continued the work in siliciclstic sequences and carbonates in Moroccoand in the Rheinisches Schiefergebirge and the Eifel hills.

In order to investigate the Emsian sedimentology and paleoecology a core sequence of 150m with proximal sediments were recovered from the Prüm syncline in the Eifel Mountains (Germany). This work started in 2005 under the umbrella of the (ESPEC Research Programme).

Real progress has been made on research in Lower Devonian siliciclastic sequences and have returned to a publication on Palaeoenvironment of an Early Devonian land-sea transition (see Wehrmann et al. 2005). Comparative studies of the members of the Senckenberg team include also Bohemian sections which have been investigated in co-operation with the Czech colleagues. Scientific reseach also ticks on facies and palaeothermometry in Palaeozoic sequences in Bulgaria and a first paper has been published.

New co-operation projects on high resolution biostratigraphy, sequence stratigraphy, facies and sedimentology, events, and palaeobiogeography on Devonian sequences in selected areas in Türkey, Germany, U.S.A., Morocco and in China began this year and/or will start next year with participating colleagues from different universities, as well as post graduate students. In the next year a special workshop on IGCP 499 related topics is planned in conjunction with the 2nd International Palaeontological Congress, Beijing, China.

Additionally, in co-operation with Russian and Turkish colleagues two IGCP 499 workshops have been organized in Novosibirsk and Istanbul/Adana. The Russian meeting took place in conjunction with the international Subcommission on Devonian Stratigraphy (SDS). Both meetings have been very successful.

Italy:

Research activities related to IGCP 499 are focused on two topics:

- (Barbieri, Cavalazzi, Ori) Research activity is centered on the Devonian kess-kess conical mounds from the Anti-Atlas, Morocco. Hydrothermal and cold seep events which originated these geological bodies developed peculiar environmental conditions. The investigations focus on the microbial communities developed in these enviroments, the mineral components and structures induced by microbes, their relationships with the mounds and the environmental settings, and the fluids that determined the mounds formation.

- (Corradini, Perri, Pillola, Pondrelli, Simonetto) Researches are mainly devoted to palaeontology and biostratigraphy in the Carnic Alps and in Sardinia. Biostratigraphic researches are mainly based on conodont fauna in various Devonian intervals. A paper on Lochkovian lobolithes (Crinoidea) from Monte Zermula area (Carnic Alps) is printed, and a revision of Famennian conodont biostratigraphy in Sardinia is in press, A study of a Lower Devonian fauna with brachiopods and trilobites from South-East Sardinia is in progress.

Morocco:

The Moroccan working group, finished stratigraphic investigations on the Devonian-Carboniferous boundary in Tiflet and Azrou (Central Morocco) which was done in co-operation with the Portuguese colleague Tomas Oliveira. The results will be prepared for publications. They also continue research with the working group of Thomas Becker (University of Münster, Germany) in the Dra Valley. The Moroccan colleagues published the guide book of the meeting of the Subcommission on Devonian Stratigraphy (SDS) which was held in 2004 in Rabat (see references).

Poland:

In reference to results of just ended an international project “Ecosystem aspects of major carbon isotope anomaly in the Lower-Middle Frasnian transition” (grant 3 P04D 040 22 for G. Racki), supported by the Committee for Scientific Research in Poland, two thematic issues are approved.

The special volume of PALAEO3, A Major Perturbation of the Global Carbon Budget in the Early-Middle Frasnian Transition (Late Devonian), edited by G. Racki, M.M. Joachimski and J.R. Morrow, will be an important contribution toward a better understanding of the evolution of the ocean-climate-biosphere system during the early Late Devonian, focused on the multidisciplinary documentation of intra-regional records of the major biogeochemical perturbations, as well as several worldwide implications. A preliminary list comprises 13 articles by authors from Poland, Germany, England, Czech Republic, China, USA and Belgium.

The main aim of this thematic issue of ACTA PALAEONTOLOGICA POLONICA, Early-Middle Frasnian transition (Late Devonian): Biotic response to a major perturbation of the global carbon budget (guest editors: A. Baliński, E. Olempska and G. Racki),is to present the diversity of biotic responses to the major perturbation of Frasnian global carbon budget and integrative event-stratigraphy for reference successions of the eastern Laurussian carbonate shelf, as well as for other regions of the Devonian World. A preliminary list of contributions comprises 11 articles confirmed by authors from Poland, Russia, China, Belgium and Germany.

Russia:

The Russian colleagues have organized the first IGCP 499 field conference in 2005 in Siberia and they have published a field guide book and an abstract volume.

Spain:

The Spanish Working Group was officially constituted on the annual meeting hold in conjunction with the Spanish Palaeontological Society in October 2004 in Alcalá de Henares. Members of the group come from Universities of València, Oviedo, Madrid, León and La Coruña and they cover a wide spectrum of important fossil groups (conodonts, brachiopods, dacryoconarids, rugose and tabulate corals, stromatoporids). At that meeting it was discussed (and approved) that we will try to hold a Special Session of our Working Group each year within the frame of the Palaeontological Society Meeting. This year (2005) a small IGCP 499 session with 7 oral contributions will take place (see list above). Participation in several National and International IGCP meetings in 2005:

April 2005: Annual Meeting of the Spanish IGCP Committee. Madrid. Attended by the Spanish leader.

Devonian IGCP 499/SDS Conference in Siberia; International Conference “Devonian terrestrial and marine environments: from continent to shelf”, Novisibirsk, July 25th-August 10th. Three members of the Spanish Working Group attended the Field-trip, Conference and Business Meeting: José Ignacio Valenzuela-Ríos, Jau-Chyn Liao and Carlos Martínez-Pérez.

Special Session of the IGCP 499 Spanish Working Group within the XXI Jornadas de la Sociedad Española de Paleontología to be hold in Sevilla. 7 cntributions have been presented. After works the Annual business meeting of the group will take place.

Research largely completed in fall 2004 involving detailed correlation of cycles through all known outcrop sections and sub-surface data from cores resulted in correlation of all third and fourth order sequences from New York into the mid-continent; all key discontinuities and condensed can be recognized across this area indicating a probable allocyclic forcing mechanism. Current research involves correlation into the condensed sections of early to mid Givetian age in Indiana. This research forms a major portion of a PhD dissertation by Alex Bartholomew; two papers have been produced from this research at present; Bartholomew et al., in press and Bartholomew and Brett, in review).

Tentative correlations have been made with newly excavated secions of the Traverse Group n the Michigan Basin. In particular, the complex cycles of the Genshaw Formation appear to be correlative with cycles in the Silica Formation of the southern Michigan basin and these in turn into cycles of the Skaneateles Formation (early Givetian hemiansatus to timorensis Zone; Bartholomew and Brett, 2004, 2005).

Now that a detailed stratigraphic framework exists it is possible to document faunal changes through rather precise time-slices to examine both the possible similarities of the Appalachian Basin with the mid-continent and to trackthe possible migration of faunas in response to sea-level fluctuation. Moreover, our tentative correlations with the Michigan Basin may permit a better understanding of the timing of biotic changes in this subprovince relative to those in the Appalachian Basin Appohmchi province (i.e., primarily major turnovers coincident with the Kacak and Taghanic events). Present data suggest that major turnovers in Michigan Basin faunas also coincide with these events. We are also looking the interfacing of faunas from the two subprovinces; it appears that Appalachian Basin faunas were briefly introduced into the Michigan Basin during two or more transgressions. However, there is little evidence of a complementary migration of Michigan subprovince faunas into New York.

B) Late Eifielian Sequence and Event Stratigraphy: Kacak event in Eastern North American mid-continent: (Michael DeSantis and C.E.Brett)

Compilation and analysis of stratigraphic and faunal data from the early Middle Devonian (late Eifelian) of the Appalachian Basin (New York and Pennsylvania), and the mid-continent carbonate platform in Ohio, and Ontario, is providing detailed correlations of biotic events across a basin, ramp and carbonate platform profile. This work has been aided by discovery and fingerprinting of K-bentonites that provide constraints on correlation, as well as biostratigraphic studies in conjunction with D. Jeffrey Over. A new approach that is being attempted in conjunction with B.Ellwood (Louisiana State University) to link New York sections with those in the mid-continent, involves the use of magnetic susceptibility (MSEC) fluctuations. An MSEC profile has been generated for a core through the late Eifelan-Givetian (Union Springs-Oatka Creek Fm.) succession in central New York. This profile will be compared to the probably coeval Deleware Limestone succession in central Ohio.

It is evident that two major faunal changes (influx of the Stony Hollow fauna and demise of Onondaga fauna) and the disappearance of the Stony Hollow fauna and assemblyof th Hamilton fauna occur late in the Eifelian, spanning roughly to the kockelianus through ensensus Zones and correspond to the otamari and Kacak (sensu stricto) bioevent. Both faunal turnovers are correlated in time with widespread anoxic shale events(Union Springs and lower Oatka Creek Formation). This research forms a main component of a PhD dissertation by Mike DeSantis and to date has resulted in one manuscript (DeSantis and Brett, in review).

C) Sequence stratigraphy and Taghanic Bioevents in the Tully Clastic Equivalents in Eastern New York (G.C. Baird and C.E.Brett)

Ongoing research on the detailed stratigraphy of east-central to eastern New York State has resulted in discovery of nearly continuous successions of strata that span the Hamilton-Tully transition in the middle Givetian ansatus to semialternans conodont zones. An additional depositional sequence comprised largely of dark silty shale has been discovered lying between the uppermost beds previously assigned to Windom (Cooperstown) Member of the Hamilton Group and lowest previously recognized Tully strata. As such, the Tully can now be subdivided into four 4th order cycles. A stepwise incursion of typical Tully faunal elements has been observed in the lower sequence, while the upper sequence continues to show recurrence of typical Hamilton faunal elements, although possibly mixed with a few taxa typical of the later Ithaca fauna in eastern silicilclastic sections.

During summer and fall of 2004 new sections of the MiddleDevonian Boyle Limestone and unconformably overlying Portwood Formation were examined and correlated in detail (Brett et al., 2004).This work resulted in discovery of: a) an unusual and anachronistic fauna in the Boyle Fm. (lower-middle Givetian) including the youngest diplporitan cystoids, mingled with advanced spiraculate blastoids, and typical Hamiton taxa, such as Edredgeops rana;

b) large scale and probably karstic unconformities bounding the Boyle; c) a succession of three depositional sequences in the Portwood that appear to match the lower, middle and upper Tully sequences in New York; d) as in New York the lower twoyield rare but distinctive lower Tully faunal elements (e.g. Tullipothyridina, Emmanuella) while the upper shows a reurn to typical Hamilton taxa.Conodont biostratigraphy requires further refinements and ongoing work in collaboration with D. J. Over will address this issue.

3.3. List of meetings with approximate attendance and number of countries

In 2005 the following meetings have been organized by IGCP 499 leaders/co-leaders or were held with IGCP 499 participation and /or support:

Joint IGCP 499 / SDS Meeting in Siberia, July 25 – August 9, 2005

A major event of IGCP 499 in 2005 took place in Southern Siberia. In the tradition of successful joint meetings and field trips of Devonian IGCP projects and the international Subcommission on Devonian Stratigraphy (SDS) a very successful meeting was held at the Institute of Petroleum Geology, United Institute of Geology and Mineralogy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian Branch in Novosibirsk. The meeting which included a splendid field trip to the South of Siberia (July 26 – August 6, 2005) and well-organised technical sessions (August 7 – 8, 2005) was run by a great group from Novosibirsk under the guidance of E.A. Yolkin, A.V. Kanygin, N.K. Bakharev, N.G. Izokh and O.T. Obut (and a wonderful team helping to arrange the sessions and the field trip in a perfect way!) was entitled “Devonian Terrestrial and Marine Environments: From Continent to Shelf” (DECONS).

About 75 scientists (among them 32 colleagues from various foreign countries, see list of participants and scientific programme, attachment 2, 3) presented 35 oral lectures and 44 posters dealing with topics spanning the entire Devonian and different aspects such as stratigraphy, sedimentology/facies, palaeontology, palaeoecology, palaeogeography, events, isotopes, regional geology and correlations of all kinds of rocks generated under different environmental settings (pelagic to terrestrial). The organisers provided simultaneous translation (from Russian to English and vice versa) during the entire technical sessions including the final closing ceremony and farewell reception. During the field trips Olga Obut acted as translator at the numerous stops and other business on the route. Business meetings of IGCP 499 and SDS were held on August 8, 2005.

The field trip lead the participants to various Devonian outcrops in the Salair, Rudny Altai, and Gorny Altai regions yielding a great variety of rocks in different facies settings (from nearshore/terrestrial to open marine conditions) and from the Lower to the Upper Devonian. Four field camps had to be set up by the perfectly working team. Vivid discussions arose when especially the non-Russian participants studied the successions which often comprised very unusual facies in respect to own experiences (e.g., substantial parts of Lower Devonian in calcareous facies, marine/terrestrial transitions – or even terrestrial strata – at levels new to many participants, etc.).

IGCP-499 Workshop „Depositional Environments of the Gondwanan and Laurasian Devonian”, Istanbul, September 26- October 3, 2005

The Devonian of Turkey is of special interest because it is comprising Laurasian and Gondwanan components on different tectonic blocks. Therefore, an active group of Devonian researchers was assembled in Turkey by co-leader M. N. Yalcin to work on the goals of IGCP-499. This was the reason to held a workshop on „Depositional Environments of the Gondwanan and Laurasian Devonian” in Istanbul from September, 26 - October, 3, 2005. The workshop was attended by about 50 colleagues, mainly from Turkey, but also from Bulgaria, Germany, Lithuania, Morocco, and the USA. There have been about 20 oral contributions and several posters covering major aspects of the subject with a special focus on the Devonian of Turkey and adjacent areas. The highly successful meeting was held in the historic main building of Istanbul University which is situated in the heart of the city and overlooking a unique panorama of the Golden Horn. There were two fieldtrips offered in conjunction with the meeting. The first (September, 28) led a number of the participants to outcrops covering an almost complete and representative fossiliferous section of Ordovician to Lower Carboniferous sediments in the eastern surroundings of Istanbul. The second fieldtrip was devoted to two major sections in the Taurus Mountains of Southern Turkey (September, 30 - October, 3). It was attended by only few foreign participants and could therefore be combined with intense cooperative fieldwork on the respective sections by Turkish and German colleagues. Following the transfer to Kayseri as the starting point, some sightseeing in the famous historic center of the town was offered.

Prof. M. Namik Yalcin opening the IGCP 499 meeting in Istanbul.

The next two days were devoted to the Degirmentas Section between Degirmentas and Halevik villages in the NNE of the Tufanbeyli District. The more or less continuous section starts with Cambrian sediments including major carbonates and ends in the Carboniferous, in between covering an almost complete Devonian which was studied in some detail. The next day gave an interesting opportunity to experience some historic places of great importance N of Adana. The subject of the last two days of the fieldtrip was the Civikle Section which is covering most of the Devonian including the Devonian/Carboniferous Boundary. The official part of the fieldtrip was followed by extended fieldwork in the framework of a bilateral Turkish-German cooperation project. Summing up, the workshop and accompanying fieldtrips must be regarded as highly successful. They offered a unique chance to get an insight into the Devonian of Turkey which is covering two major palaeogeographic “complexes” in a nearby setting. The Turkish colleagues have to be thanked for organizing and hosting a great workshop. They not only offered a fascinating Devonian, but also a wonderful landscape, culture and hospitality.

Under the umbrella of the 6th Baltic Stratigrahical Conference, a informal meeting has been organized by one of the IGCP 499 project leaders, Jurga Lazauskiene.

Session at the North Amercan Palaeontological Convention in Halifax (Canada), June 19 – 26, 2005

The American colleagues organized a special IGCP 499 session in conjunction with the obove mentioned meeting with a focus on (1) correlation of Devonian sequences and (2) facies correlation covering a range from terrestrial to transitional, near-shore marine and offshore marine strata. The oral session consisted of six talks; posters on Devonian topics numbered seven. In addition, several other talks at the meeting were on Devonian floras and faunas. The IGSP-499 session started with an overview of IGCP, IUGS, and the goals of IGCP-499 by J. Over and others. This also included a review of research projects that deal with refined correlation and nearshore to terrestrial facies under investigation. Bartholomew and Baird followed with descriptions of their research on Middle Devonian strata in New York State, including the sequence stratigraphic position and correlation of the famous buried forest at Gilboa, New York and timing of sea level rise during the major Taghanic flooding and bioevents. Savage described an interesting conodont fauna from the Upper Devonian of Thailand that has implications for paleogeographic reconstructions and dispersal of cosmopolitan faunas. Boyer finished the session with a study of brachiopod faunas in dysoxic strata, looking at community structures and bioturbation relative to oxygen levels. Posters, that were on display for two days, showcased Devonian brachiopod epibionts, fish, and terrestrial vertebrates. The most important aspect of the meeting was the communication between different workers and the development of interdisciplinary projects, especially involving palynologists and macroplant specialists.

3.4. Educational, training or capacity building activities

In our project several young scientists (e.g. PhD students) are involved and the IGCP 499 project and one of the PhD students (Jau-Chyn Liao) will finish her PhD in cooperation with colleagues from the Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum Senckenberg on micofacies analysis in the next year. The participation of young scientists and colleagues from developing countries is also documented in the distribution of IGCP funds. The benefits to their careers resulting from the scientific contacts made should be considerable. Furthermore the IGCP network provided know-how transfer via joint project co-operation. At the end of the year 2005 also some colleagues from developing countries visited colleagues at the Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg to continue research projects and/or to initiate new projects.

Children and teachers preparing thin sections.

In 2005 again a training course of one week for high school students and teachers has been organized in summer dealing with fundamental aspects in geology, regional geology, sedimentaology and palaeontology. The training course also included fieldwork and laboratory work and has been organized by collegues from the Geoplogical Survey of the State of Hesse and P. Königshof.

3.5. Participation of scientists from developing countries

Below you find the list of participants from developing countries only. The complete list of participants you will find at our website (http:www.senckenberg.de/igcp-499).

Uzbekistan:

Kim Aleksey, Rakhmonov Utkyr.

3.6. List of most important publications (including maps)

Distinguish between peer review literature and other (no abstracts).

The actual list of publications will be updated semi-annually. Below you will find the list of publications appeared in 2005, and other publications that were not previously “published” in the annual report 2004 you will find in the “List of publications 2004” in the attachment.

Beznosov, P. (2005): A preliminary report on acanthodian dentigerous jaw bones from the Frasnian of the East European Platform. – in: Depositional environments of the Gondwana and Laurasian Devonian, International workshop of IGCP Projekt 499, Abstracts and field trip guide books: 17-18; Istanbul.

Vaida, M. & Verniers, J. (2005): Devonian biostratigraphy based on the new identified chitinozoans in the South of Romania. – in: Depositional environments of the Gondwana and Laurasian Devonian, International workshop of IGCP Projekt 499, Abstracts and field trip guide books: 43-44; Istanbul.

Wilde, V. (2005): The Devonian explosion: some thoughts on the occuopation of terrestrial habitats by plants. – in: Depositional environments of the Gondwana and Laurasian Devonian, International workshop of IGCP Projekt 499, Abstracts and field trip guide books: 24-25; Istanbul.

A closer co-operation is envisaged with the IGCP 497 and a first field excursion in the Thuringian Mountains took place in summer 2005. A closer co-operation is also planed with IGCP 491 under the umbrella of the International Palaeontological Congress to be held in China next year. It is also planned to organize the final conference of both IGCP projects (IGCP 499 and IGCP 497) in Frankfurt in 2008.

4. Activities planned

4.1. General goals

According to the major goals of the project the focus for the planned meetings in the next year will be on transitional/shallow marine settings. The German working group will continue co-operation programmes with Turkish colleagues and we will initiate new research projects.

A special IGCP 499 session is planned for the next year in conjunction with the 2nd International Palaeontological Congress and the international Subcommission on Devonian Stratigraphy (SDS) to be held in Beijing. The organizors will try to invite as much as possible young scientists and post graduate students from developing countries. In the meantime the IGCP 499 secretary has four application forms from post-graduate and graduate students.

There is also a standing offer from the colleagues in Iran to organize a meeting in the Elbrous mountains in 2006, but this is dependend on the political develompent in Iran in the next month.

5. Project funding requested

In the last two years several local and regional working groups have been established with an increasing number of participants from different developing countries including post-graduate and graduate students. Therefore, we want to apply for higher funding of our IGCP 499 project.

The IGCP Scientific Board would like to be informed how the IGCP funds were used and if additional funding could be obtained from different sources.

The IGCP funds have been used mainly for travel expences for colleagues from developing countries and PhD students. Less than 10 % have been used for translations purposes in Russia. For their own travel expances the leaders applied for additional funding, so that 100% of the UNESCO/IUGS buget has been used for the project itself.

8. Attach any information you may consider relevant

Field guide books and abstract books of the IGCP conferences in Russia and Turkey

List of publications 2004

Attachment:

List of publications in 2004 wich partly have been listed in the annual report 2004